231-517: Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh ; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn , Wynette helped bring a woman's perspective to the male-dominated country music field that helped other women find representation in the genre. Her characteristic vocal delivery has been acclaimed by critics, journalists and writers for conveying unique emotion. Twenty of her singles topped
462-547: A blood clot in her lung . In the days following her death, performers and other industry insiders reacted to her death. "She'll always be dear to me. She'll always be special. She'll always live in our memories," said Dolly Parton. "Tammy Wynette was an American original, and we will miss her," said Bill and Hillary Clinton . "We once made a record called One of a Kind ," commented producer Billy Sherrill . "There are no more words. The words have all been said", he added. A public memorial service, attended by about 1,500 people,
693-406: A wrongful death lawsuit against her doctor, Wallis Marsh, Care Solutions, and George Richey. The sisters claimed they were responsible for the country star's demise. Furthermore, they claimed that Richey refused to take advice from Dr. Marsh. According to Dr. Marsh, he had told Richey to take Wynette to a hospital in the days leading up to her death. In 1999, Wynette's body was exhumed and an autopsy
924-611: A "blueprint" for future incidents of police brutality nationwide. The incident also resulted in the disbanding of the city's "SCORPION" unit, which had been mandated with directly combating the most violent crimes in the city. All the officers charged with involvement in Nichols's death were members of the unit. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 324.0 square miles (839.2 km ), of which 315.1 square miles (816.0 km )
1155-542: A "landmark LP", while AllMusic gave it a four-star rating. Despite positive reviews, Higher Ground only peaked at number 43 on the Billboard country chart. Its singles proved more commercially successful. In 1987, " Your Love " reached the American and Canadian country songs top 20, while " Talkin' to Myself Again " reached number 16 on the former. Following Higher Ground , Buckingham told Sony Music executives that it
1386-482: A "landmark album". In 1994, Wynette released a studio album of duets titled Without Walls . It featured collaborations with notable artists of the era including Melissa Etheridge , Elton John , and Sting . Its first single was a duet with Wynonna Judd titled "Girl Thang", which was among Wynette's final charting singles. Although it did not chart in North America, Without Walls did reach number eight on
1617-652: A 6,000-square-foot (560 m) plantation home in Lakeland, Florida . They later built a performance venue on the property, which they titled "Old Plantation Music Park". Country music Country (also called country and western ) is a music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and the Southwest . First produced in the 1920s, country music
1848-432: A Man (1970), The First Lady (1971) and My Man (1972) reached the Billboard country top five. Jones and Wynette had been wanting to record together since they married. Although they started touring together in 1969, they could not record together until 1971, when Jones was released from his previous contract. Their first single was a remake of Jones's solo release, " Take Me ". In 1971, it climbed to number nine on
2079-594: A Man " (1969), " He Loves Me All the Way " (1970), " Run Woman Run " (1970), " Good Lovin' (Makes It Right) " (1971), " Bedtime Story " (1971), " My Man (Understands) " (1972), " 'Til I Get It Right " (1972), " Kids Say the Darndest Things " (1973), and " Another Lonely Song " (1973). Most of these songs followed similar themes about housewives attempting to keep their husbands happy or the effects that troubled marriages have on children. Additionally, Epic Records released
2310-586: A Rainy Night " by Eddie Rabbitt (these two back-to-back at the top in early 1981); and " Islands in the Stream ", a duet by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers in 1983, a pop-country crossover hit written by Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees . Newton's "Queen of Hearts" almost reached No. 1, but was kept out of the spot by the pop ballad juggernaut " Endless Love " by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie . The move of country music toward neotraditional styles led to
2541-575: A Tammy to Me," Sherrill told her in reference to the film Tammy and the Bachelor . "Apartment No. 9" was released as Wynette's debut single and reached number 44 on the American Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Although she had a charting single, Wynette still had little income. Sherrill arranged for booking agent Hubert Long to set up tour dates for her. Most promoters did not want to book Wynette because she
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#17327902726362772-614: A child, Wynette played basketball but was not allowed to wear the shorts provided to the girls' team. Instead, her grandfather had Wynette wear blue jeans. She later made the all-state basketball team in both 1958 and 1959. She also took piano lessons and learned to play by ear. After several lessons, the instructor told her mother she was "wasting her money" because of her natural ability on the instrument. In upper elementary school, Wynette befriended classmate Linda Cayson. The pair became close friends and later realized they could harmonize with one another. Along with another friend, they would form
3003-452: A collection of musicians that came to be known as the outlaw movement revolutionized the genre of country music in the early 1970s. "After I left Nashville (the early 70s), I wanted to relax and play the music that I wanted to play, and just stay around Texas, maybe Oklahoma. Waylon and I had that outlaw image going, and when it caught on at colleges and we started selling records, we were O.K. The whole outlaw thing, it had nothing to do with
3234-530: A commercially fallow period. This subgenre was notable for borrowing from 1950s pop stylings: a prominent and smooth vocal, backed by a string section (violins and other orchestral strings) and vocal chorus. Instrumental soloing was de-emphasized in favor of trademark "licks". Leading artists in this genre included Jim Reeves , Skeeter Davis , Connie Smith , the Browns , Patsy Cline , and Eddy Arnold . The "slip note" piano style of session musician Floyd Cramer
3465-475: A country performer. He then replied, "Dream on baby, dream on." A decade later, Byrd appeared at one of her concerts. When he asked for her autograph, she signed it, "Dream on, baby. Love, Tammy". Wynette and Byrd would later see each other at family functions when he began attempting to re-establish his relationship with their three daughters. In 1996, Byrd was killed in a car crash. Wynette met her second husband, Don Chapel, upon moving to Nashville in 1965. Chapel
3696-642: A country recording contract with the Musicor , Hickory , Kapp , and Decca labels, but Wynette was turned down by every company. Nashville producer Kelso Herston helped her arrange a meeting with new Epic Records producer Billy Sherrill . Wynette went into Sherrill's office and pitched him several songs. Sherrill was impressed by her voice and signed her to a recording contract with Epic in 1966. On her first recording session, Wynette cut Bobby Austin 's " Apartment No. 9 ". At that point Sherrill changed her stage name from Wynette Byrd to Tammy Wynette. "You look like
3927-578: A crypt entombment at Nashville's Woodlawn Memorial Park . According to her daughters, a will written by Wynette years prior had provided a trust . The specifics of the trust included money to be given to her four daughters over a period of time. The yellow legal pad which included this information (written by Wynette herself) was missing in the days following her death. Instead, Wynette's daughters were denied their inheritance of their mother's will by George Richey. Executive decisions were instead given to Richey and his brother, Carl Richardson. Richey received
4158-427: A cultural fad had died down after the late 1970s (with Jennings noting in 1978 that it had gotten out of hand and led to real-life legal scrutiny), many western and outlaw country music artists maintained their popularity during the 1980s by forming supergroups , such as The Highwaymen , Texas Tornados , and Bandido . Country pop or soft pop, with roots in the countrypolitan sound, folk music, and soft rock ,
4389-443: A dependence on pain killers . Yet, her commercial success continued. Although none of her solo singles topped the charts, she continued reaching the top ten. Both " (Let's Get Together) One Last Time " and " One of a Kind " reached number six on the Billboard country chart in 1977. Through 1979, Wynette had three more solo releases reach the Billboard and RPM top ten: " Womanhood ", " They Call It Making Love " and " No One Else in
4620-500: A documentary about her life called Stand by Your Dream . A film crew followed Wynette while on the road and at home with her husband. The documentary was directed by Rosemary Bowen-Jones, who commented on it years later: "When you're someone like that, you've kind of rehearsed your life." Throughout her life, Wynette enjoyed cooking, and repeatedly cooked pinto beans on a range on her tour bus. This would inspire her to compile her 1990 cookbook Tammy Wynette's Southern Cookbook , issued by
4851-632: A drummer, steel guitarist, guitar player, bass player, and background singer. Wynette herself played acoustic guitar on occasion. She toured for the first time internationally in late 1967 to Germany and the United Kingdom. She also did several package dates with Chapel, David Houston, and George Jones . Wynette and Jones began performing "My Elusive Dreams" on the road following an argument with Houston's management. Upon realizing their romantic feelings for one another, Wynette divorced Chapel and married Jones in 1969. During this time, Wynette went into
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#17327902726365082-630: A focal point of Spanish activity until, as Holmes summarizes: [T]he Treaty of San Lorenzo or Pinckney's Treaty of 1795 [implemented in March 1797], [had as its result that] all of the careful, diplomatic work by Spanish officials in Louisiana and West Florida , which has succeeded for a decade in controlling the Indians [e.g., the Choctaws ], was undone. The United States gained the right to navigate
5313-563: A large territory in the Southeast. French explorers led by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle , and Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto encountered the historic Chickasaw in this area in the 16th century. J. D. L. Holmes, writing in Hudson's Four Centuries of Southern Indians (2007), notes that this site was a third strategic point in the late 18th century through which European powers could control United States encroachment beyond
5544-475: A little bit of that, a little bit of black and a little bit of white ... just loud enough to keep you from thinking too much and to go right on ordering the whiskey." East Texan Al Dexter had a hit with "Honky Tonk Blues", and seven years later " Pistol Packin' Mama ". These "honky tonk" songs were associated with barrooms, and was performed by the likes of Ernest Tubb , Kitty Wells (the first major female country solo singer), Ted Daffan , Floyd Tillman ,
5775-578: A marked decline in country/pop crossovers in the late 1980s, and only one song in that period— Roy Orbison 's " You Got It ", from 1989—made the top 10 of both the Billboard Hot Country Singles " and Hot 100 charts, due largely to a revival of interest in Orbison after his sudden death. The only song with substantial country airplay to reach number one on the pop charts in the late 1980s was " At This Moment " by Billy Vera and
6006-625: A multicultural mix of influences: country , rock and roll , soul , and hip-hop . The city is home to a major professional sports team , the Grizzlies of the NBA . Other attractions include Graceland , the Memphis Pyramid , Sun Studio , the Blues Hall of Fame and Stax Museum of American Soul Music . Memphis-style barbecue has achieved international prominence, and the city hosts
6237-547: A one million dollar estate policy, along with an additional 1.4 million dollars on his own insurance policy. According to daughter Jackie, Richey was "evasive" when asked about the daughters' own payouts. Surprised by the will, Wynette's daughters began to question their mother's death. Further detective work was conducted by local television reporter Jennifer Kraus. She discovered that a local company called Care Solutions Inc. had been delivering prescription drugs to Wynette's home through 1998. In April 1999, Wynette's daughters filed
6468-453: A packaged duo, they were often referred to as the "President and First Lady". Their tour bus was labeled "Mr. and Mrs. Country Music". However, their marriage had several challenges which made their day-to-day life difficult, such as Jones's alcoholism. Jones often missed shows after drinking too much, which increased Wynette's growing frustration with their relationship. The couple's marital problems prompted her to file for divorce in 1973, but
6699-515: A part of the Outlaw country movement. Originating in the bars, fiestas, and honky-tonks of Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas, their music supplemented outlaw country's singer-songwriter tradition as well as 21st-century rock -inspired alternative country and hip hop -inspired country rap artists. Outlaw country was derived from the traditional western, including Red Dirt , New Mexico , Texas country , Tejano , and honky-tonk musical styles of
6930-520: A plant that had withered up about to die. I thought, 'this woman is dying – why isn't somebody doing something?'" Wynette died on April 6, 1998, while sleeping at her Nashville, Tennessee , home. She was 55 years old. Husband George Richey and Wynette were sleeping all day on adjacent living room couches when he discovered that evening that she was dead. Her death was certified by her doctor, Wallis Marsh, who flew from Pennsylvania to make it official. He stated in his original report that Wynette died from
7161-420: A popular concert attraction until her death. During this period, she re-made The Beach Boys ' " In My Room " with Brian Wilson . The song proved to be her final recording. Wynette's final concerts and television performances were held in March 1998. Other works by Wynette have also appeared outside of music. In 1979, she published a book about her life with author Joan Dew. Released by Simon & Schuster , it
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7392-597: A psychiatric hospital. Doctors diagnosed her with depression and gave her 12 rounds of electric shock treatment . Upon returning from the hospital, she still insisted on filing for divorce. However, her mother disapproved and Wynette secretly moved with her children to Birmingham, Alabama. While in Birmingham, Byrd returned and Wynette agreed to give their marriage one more chance. However, their problems continued and they eventually divorced in 1965. In one of their final encounters, Wynette told Byrd her ambitions of becoming
7623-482: A result of traditionalist backlash within separate genres. In the aftermath of the British Invasion , many desired a return to the "old values" of rock n' roll. At the same time there was a lack of enthusiasm in the country sector for Nashville-produced music. What resulted was a crossbred genre known as country rock . Early innovators in this new style of music in the 1960s and 1970s included Bob Dylan , who
7854-456: A role for the animated television show King of the Hill . She portrayed Hank Hill's mother between 1997 and 1998. Further works about her were released posthumously. Among them were three books that appeared in the years following her death. The first was written by Wynette's daughter, Jaclyn Daly, titled Tammy Wynette: A Daughter Recalls Her Mother's Tragic Life and Death . Daly collaborated on
8085-529: A role in the larger country music, with western wear , cowboy boots , and cowboy hats continues to be in fashion for country artists. West of the Mississippi River , many of these western genres continue to flourish, including the Red Dirt of Oklahoma , New Mexico music of New Mexico , and both Texas country music and Tejano music of Texas . During the 1950s until the early 1970s,
8316-428: A series of hugely successful songs blending country and folk-rock musical styles. By the mid-1970s, Texas country and Tejano music gained popularity with performers like Freddie Fender . During the early 1980s country artists continued to see their records perform well on the pop charts. In 1980 a style of "neocountry disco music" was popularized. During the mid-1980s a group of new artists began to emerge who rejected
8547-412: A series of studio albums by Wynette during this period. Between 1969 and 1970 alone, Epic released six original albums. This included the 1969 gospel LP, Inspiration , and the 1970 holiday LP, Christmas with Tammy . Additional album projects featured her number one and top ten singles of the period. Of these LPs, Tammy's Touch (1970) topped the Billboard country albums chart. The Ways to Love
8778-543: A significant shift in sound from earlier country music. The song was written by actual truckers and contained numerous references to the trucker culture of the time like "ICC" for Interstate Commerce Commission and "little white pills" as a reference to amphetamines . Starday Records in Nashville followed up on Dudley's initial success with the release of Give Me 40 Acres by the Willis Brothers . Rockabilly
9009-459: A singer. She performed music through her teen years and married Euple Byrd at age 17. Wynette enrolled in cosmetology school and later appeared on a local country music television program. Wynette then divorced and moved to Nashville, Tennessee , to pursue a country music career in 1965. She soon met her second husband, Don Chapel, and eventually signed with Epic Records . Under the production of Billy Sherrill , her first single, " Apartment No. 9 ",
9240-495: A style of "neocountry disco music" was popularized by the film Urban Cowboy . It was during this time that a glut of pop-country crossover artists began appearing on the country charts: former pop stars Bill Medley (of the Righteous Brothers ), "England Dan" Seals (of England Dan and John Ford Coley ), Tom Jones , and Merrill Osmond (both alone and with some of his brothers ; his younger sister Marie Osmond
9471-492: A trio called Wynette, Linda & Imogene. The trio often sang at gospel functions together. A local Methodist minister had both Linda and Wynette sing on his early-morning Saturday radio show on WERH . They listened to music together, including country artists Ernest Tubb and Hank Williams . Wynette attended Tremont High School in Tremont, Mississippi . She was considered to be "popular" by high school friends. In 1960, she
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9702-402: A trip to Nashville, Tennessee , which inspired her to pursue a country music career. Meanwhile, Euple Byrd continued returning to Birmingham. Not officially divorced, the couple agreed to give their marriage one final chance and they lived in a Birmingham housing project near the steel industry. Byrd secured a new job but did not return to their residence, according to Wynette. She decided to make
9933-674: A yellow fever outbreak, 20,000 residents fled the city. The ensuing panic left the poverty-stricken, the working classes, and the African-American community at the most risk from the epidemic. Those who remained relied on volunteers from religious and physician organizations to tend to the sick. By the end of the year, more than 5,000 were confirmed dead in Memphis. The New Orleans health board listed "not less than 4,600" dead. The Mississippi Valley recorded 120,000 cases of yellow fever, with 20,000 deaths. The $ 15 million in losses caused by
10164-499: Is a subgenre that first emerged in the 1970s. Although the term first referred to country music songs and artists that crossed over to top 40 radio, country pop acts are now more likely to cross over to adult contemporary music . It started with pop music singers like Glen Campbell , Bobbie Gentry , John Denver , Olivia Newton-John , Anne Murray , B. J. Thomas , the Bellamy Brothers , and Linda Ronstadt having hits on
10395-419: Is based on Georgette Jones's memoir and aired its first of six weekly episodes on Showtime December 4, 2022. Wynette was plagued by health problems throughout her life. Her health declined even more in the final years of her life and she began to look frailer. Nashville writer Alanna Nash recalled watching one of Wynette's final music videos and remembered her physical condition: "Tammy looked ancient, like
10626-500: Is land and 9.0 square miles (23.2 km ), or 2.76%, is water. Downtown Memphis rises from a bluff along the Mississippi River . The city and metro area spread out through suburbanization, and encompass southwest Tennessee, northern Mississippi , and eastern Arkansas . Several large parks were founded in the city in the early 20th century, notably Overton Park in Midtown and the 4,500-acre (18 km ) Shelby Farms . The city
10857-420: Is primarily focused on singing stories about working-class and blue-collar American life. Country music is known for its ballads and dance tunes (i.e., " honky-tonk music ") with simple form, folk lyrics, and harmonies generally accompanied by instruments such as banjos , fiddles , harmonicas , and many types of guitar (including acoustic , electric , steel , and resonator guitars). Though it
11088-411: Is primarily rooted in various forms of American folk music , such as old-time music and Appalachian music , many other traditions, including Mexican , Irish , and Hawaiian music , have had a formative influence on the genre. Blues modes from blues music have been used extensively throughout its history as well. Once called " hillbilly music", the term country music gained popularity in
11319-555: The Billboard country chart during her career. Her signature song " Stand by Your Man " received both acclaim and criticism for its portrayal of women's loyalty towards their husbands. Wynette was born and raised near Tremont, a small town in Itawamba County, Mississippi , by her mother, stepfather, and maternal grandparents. During childhood, Wynette picked cotton on her family's farm but also had aspirations of becoming
11550-574: The ARIA charts in Australia. The project received mixed reviews. BBC called it a "respect-laden series of duets", while biographer Jimmy McDonough called it "cringe-worthy". Health problems continued to affect Wynette into the 1990s as her dependence on prescription drugs increased. She often missed concerts because she was too ill to perform. In the mid-1990s, Wynette was hospitalized with a severe bile duct infection that nearly led to her death. Wynette
11781-654: The Bakersfield sound . It has the tempo of country rock and the emotion of honky-tonk, and its lyrics focus on a truck driver 's lifestyle. Truck-driving country songs often deal with the profession of trucking and love. Well-known artists who sing truck driving country include Dave Dudley , Red Sovine , Dick Curless , Red Simpson , Del Reeves , the Willis Brothers and Jerry Reed , with C. W. McCall and Cledus Maggard (pseudonyms of Bill Fries and Jay Huguely, respectively) being more humorous entries in
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#173279027263612012-608: The Billboard Country LPs chart. They were followed by a duet with David Houston called " My Elusive Dreams ", which was her first number one country single. Its follow-up was the solo single " I Don't Wanna Play House " which topped the Billboard country chart in 1967. It later won Wynette the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance . Her next singles topped the country charts through 1968: " Take Me to Your World " and " D-I-V-O-R-C-E ". The latter
12243-513: The Billboard country chart and number 12 on the RPM country chart. Their first studio LP, We Go Together (1971), reached the top five of the Billboard country albums chart. Their 1972 single, " The Ceremony ", was also a top ten single in the United States and Canada. Altogether, Epic label issued seven studio albums of Jones and Wynette duets. The pair were considered among country music's most successful and well-known duet partnerships. Touring as
12474-596: The Chips Moman -produced You Brought Me Back (1981), Richey produced Wynette's 1982 LP, Soft Touch . The album spawned " Another Chance ", which became her first top ten single in several years. Additional early 1980s singles made the country top 20: " Crying in the Rain " (1981), " You Still Get to Me in My Dreams " (1982), and " A Good Night's Love " (1983). Wynette's record sales began to wane following 1982. Both
12705-759: The First National Band ), the Grateful Dead , Neil Young , Commander Cody , the Allman Brothers Band , Charlie Daniels , the Marshall Tucker Band , Poco , Buffalo Springfield , Stephen Stills ' band Manassas and Eagles , among many, even the former folk music duo Ian & Sylvia , who formed Great Speckled Bird in 1969. The Eagles would become the most successful of these country rock acts, and their compilation album Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) remains
12936-845: The Great Depression . However, radio became a popular source of entertainment, and "barn dance" shows featuring country music were started by radio stations all over the South, as far north as Chicago, and as far west as California. The most important was the Grand Ole Opry , aired starting in 1925 by WSM in Nashville and continuing to the present day. Some of the early stars on the Opry were Uncle Dave Macon , Roy Acuff and African American harmonica player DeFord Bailey . WSM's 50,000-watt signal (in 1934) could often be heard across
13167-487: The Maddox Brothers and Rose , Lefty Frizzell and Hank Williams ; the music of these artists would later be called "traditional" country. Williams' influence in particular would prove to be enormous, inspiring many of the pioneers of rock and roll, such as Elvis Presley , Jerry Lee Lewis , Chuck Berry and Ike Turner , while providing a framework for emerging honky tonk talents like George Jones . Webb Pierce
13398-771: The Mississippi River and won control over the Yazoo Strip north of the thirty-first parallel. The Spanish dismantled the fort, shipping its lumber and iron to their locations in Arkansas. In 1796, the site became the westernmost point of the newly admitted state of Tennessee, in what was then called the Southwest United States. The area was still largely occupied and controlled by the Chickasaw nation. Captain Isaac Guion led an American force down
13629-601: The Missouri Bootheel . One of the more historic and culturally significant cities of the Southern United States , Memphis has a wide variety of landscapes and distinct neighborhoods . The first European explorer to visit the area of present-day Memphis was Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto in 1541. The high Chickasaw Bluffs protecting the location from the waters of the Mississippi
13860-595: The Mountain City Fiddlers Convention , held in 1925, helped to inspire modern country music. Before these, pioneer settlers, in the Great Smoky Mountains region, had developed a rich musical heritage. The first generation emerged in the 1920s, with Atlanta's music scene playing a major role in launching country's earliest recording artists. James Gideon "Gid" Tanner (1885–1960) was an American old-time fiddler and one of
14091-516: The Ozarks . As Webb Pierce put it in 1956, "Once upon a time, it was almost impossible to sell country music in a place like New York City. Nowadays, television takes us everywhere, and country music records and sheet music sell as well in large cities as anywhere else." The Country Music Association was founded in 1958, in part because numerous country musicians were appalled by the increased influence of rock and roll on country music. Beginning in
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#173279027263614322-561: The Pelican Publishing Company . The book featured southern American-inspired recipes used routinely in Wynette's family. In the 1990s, Wynette received more exposure on television. In 1994, she guest-starred on Burt Reynolds 's CBS television program Evening Shade . Fellow country artist K. T. Oslin also appeared on the show. She made a cameo on the sitcom Married... with Children in 1996. Wynette later voiced
14553-591: The Southeast , the nation's 28th-most populous overall, as well as the largest city bordering the Mississippi River and third largest metropolitan statistical area behind Greater St. Louis and the Twin Cities on the Mississippi River. The Memphis metropolitan area includes West Tennessee and the greater Mid-South region , which includes portions of neighboring Arkansas , Mississippi and
14784-641: The Treaty of Tuscaloosa , signed in October 1818 and ratified by Congress on January 7, 1819, the Chickasaw ceded their territory in Western Tennessee to the United States . The city of Memphis was founded less than five months after the U.S. takeover of the territory, on May 22, 1819 (incorporated December 19, 1826), by John Overton , James Winchester and Andrew Jackson . They named it after
15015-524: The WBRC television station in Birmingham and helped his niece secure an audition for the Country Boy Eddie country music television show. The show's headliner, Eddie Burns, was impressed and agreed to have her on the program. On her first show, she sang a cover of Patsy Cline 's " Sweet Dreams " while the camera pointed above her waist to avoid showing Wynette's pregnant body. Wynette performed on
15246-565: The ancient capital of Egypt on the Nile River . From the city's foundation onwards, African Americans formed large proportion of Memphis' population. Prior to the abolition of slavery in the United States , most Black people in Memphis were enslaved, being used as forced labor by white enslavers along the river or on outlying cotton plantations in the Mississippi Delta . The city's demographics changed dramatically in
15477-552: The music of Hawaii . The U.S. Congress has formally recognized Bristol, Tennessee as the "Birthplace of Country Music", based on the historic Bristol recording sessions of 1927. Since 2014, the city has been home to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum . Historians have also noted the influence of the less-known Johnson City sessions of 1928 and 1929, and the Knoxville sessions of 1929 and 1930. In addition,
15708-531: The " I Can't Stop Loving You " single, and recording the landmark album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music . Another subgenre of country music grew out of hardcore honky tonk with elements of western swing and originated 112 miles (180 km) north-northwest of Los Angeles in Bakersfield, California , where many " Okies " and other Dust Bowl migrants had settled. Influenced by one-time West Coast residents Bob Wills and Lefty Frizzell , by 1966 it
15939-653: The "Best Female Country Vocal Performance" as well as the Country Music Association's most coveted award for females, "Female Vocalist of the Year". In response George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Jean Shepard and other traditional Nashville country artists dissatisfied with the new trend formed the short-lived "Association of Country Entertainers" in 1974; the ACE soon unraveled in the wake of Jones and Wynette's bitter divorce and Shepard's realization that most others in
16170-572: The 1850s and 1860s, due to waves of immigration and domestic migration. Due to increased immigration since the 1840s and the Great Famine , Irish Americans made up 9.9% of the population in 1850, but 23.2% by 1860, when the total population was 22,623. Tennessee seceded from the Union in June 1861, and Memphis briefly became a Confederate stronghold. Union ironclad gunboats captured it in
16401-453: The 1880s Memphis led the nation in sanitary reform and improvements. Perhaps the most significant effect of yellow fever on Memphis was in demographic changes. Nearly all of Memphis's upper and middle classes vanished, depriving the city of its general leadership and class structure that dictated everyday life, similar to that in other large Southern cities, such as New Orleans , Charleston, South Carolina , and Atlanta, Georgia . In Memphis,
16632-611: The 1920s, were popularized by films made in Hollywood. Some of the popular singing cowboys from the era were Gene Autry , the Sons of the Pioneers , and Roy Rogers . Country music and western music were frequently played together on the same radio stations, hence the term country and western music, despite country and western being two distinct genres. Cowgirls contributed to the sound in various family groups. Patsy Montana opened
16863-405: The 1940s. The genre came to encompass western music , which evolved parallel to hillbilly music from similar roots, in the mid-20th century. Contemporary styles of western music include Texas country , red dirt , and Hispano- and Mexican American -led Tejano and New Mexico music , which still exists alongside longstanding indigenous traditions . In 2009, in the United States, country music
17094-417: The 1950s to the mid-1960s, western singer-songwriters such as Marty Robbins rose in prominence as did others, throughout western music traditions, like New Mexico music 's Al Hurricane . The late 1960s in American music produced a unique blend as a result of traditionalist backlash within separate genres. In the aftermath of the British Invasion , many desired a return to the "old values" of rock n' roll. At
17325-639: The 1960s, the city was at the center of the Civil Rights Movement , as its large African-American population had been affected by state segregation practices and disenfranchisement in the early 20th century. African-American residents drew from the civil rights movement to improve their lives. In 1968, the Memphis sanitation strike began for living wages and better working conditions; the workers were overwhelmingly African American. They marched to gain public awareness and support for their plight:
17556-489: The 1980s progressed, Wynette continued having commercial success but with less frequency. In 1980, she reunited with George Jones for the duet single " Two Story House ". It reached number two on the Billboard country chart and number one on the RPM country chart. However, it also proved to be her final American top five single. The pair also reunited for several shows including a performance at Wembley Stadium and an HBO special. In 1980, Wynette told Billy Sherrill that she
17787-447: The 1980s. Country music propelled Kenny Rogers’ career, making him a three-time Grammy Award winner and six-time Country Music Association Awards winner. Having sold more than 50 million albums in the US, one of his Song "The Gambler," inspired several TV films, with Rogers as the main character. Artists like Crystal Gayle , Ronnie Milsap and Barbara Mandrell would also find success on
18018-538: The 20th century, with four lynchings between 1900 and the lynching of Thomas Williams in 1928. A Tennessee Powder Company built an explosives powder plant to make TNT and gunpowder on a 6,000-acre site in Millington in 1940. The plant was built to make smokeless gunpowder for the British Armed Forces during World War II . In May 1941, DuPont (1802–2017) took over the plant, changed the name to
18249-740: The Appalachians and their interference with Indian matters—after Fort Nogales (present-day Vicksburg ) and Fort Confederación (present-day Epes, Alabama ): "Chickasaw Bluffs, located on the Mississippi River at the present-day location of Memphis. Spain and the United States vied for control of this site, which was a favorite of the Chickasaws." In 1795 the Spanish Governor-General of Louisiana , Francisco Luis Héctor de Carondelet , sent his lieutenant governor, Manuel Gayoso de Lemos , to negotiate and secure consent from
18480-579: The Beaters, an R&B song with slide guitar embellishment that appeared at number 42 on the country charts from minor crossover airplay. The record-setting, multi-platinum group Alabama was named Artist of the Decade for the 1980s by the Academy of Country Music. Country rock is a genre that started in the 1960s but became prominent in the 1970s. The late 1960s in American music produced a unique blend as
18711-508: The Carters recorded some 300 old-time ballads, traditional tunes, country songs and gospel hymns, all representative of America's southeastern folklore and heritage. Maybelle Carter went on to continue the family tradition with her daughters as The Carter Sisters ; her daughter June would marry (in succession) Carl Smith , Rip Nix and Johnny Cash , having children with each who would also become country singers. Record sales declined during
18942-624: The Chickasaw Ordnance Works, and produced powder for the United States Armed Forces . There were 8,000 employees. The plant was dismantled after the war in 1946. From the 1910s to the 1950s, Memphis was a place of machine politics under the direction of E. H. "Boss" Crump . He gained a state law in 1911 to establish a small commission to manage the city. The city retained a form of commission government until 1967 and patronage flourished under Crump. Per
19173-529: The Grand Ole Opry. That was the ordination of bluegrass music and how Bill Monroe came to be known as the "Father of Bluegrass." Gospel music , too, remained a popular component of bluegrass and other sorts of country music. Red Foley , the biggest country star following World War II, had one of the first million-selling gospel hits (" Peace in the Valley ") and also sang boogie, blues and rockabilly. In
19404-625: The Hot 100 and later topped the charts in the United Kingdom. A corresponding LP of the same name reached number two on the Billboard country albums chart. In the wake of "Stand by Your Man", Wynette received a series of accolades. In 1969, she joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry and won her second Grammy award. She won the 1969 Top Female Vocalist accolade from the Academy of Country Music and three back-to-back honors for Female Vocalist of
19635-517: The Judds . Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee . It is the county seat of Shelby County , in the southwesternmost part of the state, and is situated along the Mississippi River . With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census , Memphis is the second-most populous city in Tennessee after Nashville . Memphis is the fifth-most populous city in
19866-747: The Lane " for Okeh Records on June 14, 1923. Vernon Dalhart was the first country singer to have a nationwide hit in May 1924 with " Wreck of the Old 97 ". The flip side of the record was "Lonesome Road Blues", which also became very popular. In April 1924, "Aunt" Samantha Bumgarner and Eva Davis became the first female musicians to record and release country songs. The record 129-D produced by Columbia features Samantha playing fiddle and singing Big-Eyed Rabbit while Eva Davis plays banjo. The other side features Eva Davis playing banjo while singing Wild Bill Jones. Many of
20097-608: The Nashville establishment that Wynette was still marketable. Martinovich had her perform in more diverse settings, including The Bottom Line venue in Greenwich Village . Other new ventures included Wynette recording with British group the KLF . In 1991, they collaborated on the song, " Justified and Ancient (Stand by the JAMs) ". KLF member Bill Drummond was a fan of Wynette's and personally called to ask her permission to record
20328-585: The Ohio River to claim the land, arriving on July 20, 1797. By this time, the Spanish had departed. The fort's ruins went unnoticed 20 years later when Memphis was laid out as a city after the United States government paid the Chickasaw for land. At the beginning of the century, as recognized by the United States in 1786 Treaty of Hopewell , the land still belonged to the Chickasaw Nation . In
20559-450: The South, as far north as Chicago, and as far west as California. The most important was the Grand Ole Opry , aired starting in 1925 by WSM in Nashville and continuing to the present day. During the 1930s and 1940s, cowboy songs, or western music, which had been recorded since the 1920s, were popularized by films made in Hollywood, many featuring Gene Autry , who was known as king of the "singing cowboys," and Hank Williams . Bob Wills
20790-694: The Southwestern United States, it was the Rocky Mountains , American frontier , and Rio Grande that acted as a similar backdrop for Native American , Mexican , and cowboy ballads, which resulted in New Mexico music and the development of western music , and it is directly related to Red Dirt, Texas country, and Tejano music styles. In the Asia-Pacific , the steel guitar sound of country music has its provenance in
21021-532: The Straw " by fiddlers Henry Gilliland & A.C. (Eck) Robertson on June 30, 1922, for Victor Records and released in April 1923. Columbia Records began issuing records with "hillbilly" music (series 15000D "Old Familiar Tunes") as early as 1924. The first commercial recording of what is widely considered to be the first country song featuring vocals and lyrics was Fiddlin' John Carson with " Little Log Cabin in
21252-622: The Sylvers , Jay Reatard , Zach Myers , and Aretha Franklin . On December 23, 1988, a tanker truck hauling liquefied propane crashed at the I-40/I-240 interchange in Midtown and exploded , starting multiple vehicle and structural fires. Nine people were killed and ten were injured. It was one of Tennessee's deadliest motor vehicle accidents and eventually led to the reconstruction of the interchange where it occurred. On June 2, 2021,
21483-597: The West Coast. Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family are widely considered to be important early country musicians. From Scott County, Virginia , the Carters had learned sight reading of hymnals and sheet music using solfege . Their songs were first captured at a historic recording session in Bristol, Tennessee , on August 1, 1927, where Ralph Peer was the talent scout and sound recordist. A scene in
21714-497: The World ". Critics and writers highlighted Wynette's music of this period. Bufwack and Oermann observed that her late 1970s singles "took a candid look at modern sexuality". AllMusic's Thom Jurek found 1977's One of a Kind LP to evoke the performances of a "true diva " and "country music's reigning queen". Critic Eugene Chadbourne found the musical quality of 1978's Womanhood to be mediocre and gave it two-and-a-half stars. As
21945-650: The Year from the Country Music Association (1968, 1969 and 1970). Her 1969 compilation, Tammy's Greatest Hits , was among the first female country albums to certify gold (and later platinum) by the Recording Industry Association of America . Critics had also taken notice of her music. Greg Adams of AllMusic described the Stand by Your Man LP as "consistent" and gave it five stars. Writer Kurt Wolff found her material "from
22176-712: The albums Good Love & Heartbreak (1982) and Even the Strong Get Lonely (1983) reached only the Billboard country top 60. Wynette's singles also reached progressively lower chart positions following 1982. This included "Still in the Ring" and a cover of John Prine 's "Unwed Fathers". Around 1985, Wynette made changes to her declining career. She hired California-based Stan Moress to serve as her manager. Moress had Wynette cut her hair, change her wardrobe, and incorporate choreography into her shows. Steve Buckingham also started producing Wynette's next album, which
22407-401: The altercations, which were described as "heinous" and showed "a total lack of regard for human life", according to Memphis police chief Cerelyn "CJ" Davis. The officers were fired and charged with second-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, and other crimes. The relatively rapid dismissal and prosecution of the offending officers were favorably perceived by Nichols's family, and Davis called it
22638-493: The annual World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest , which attracts more than 100,000 visitors each year. Higher-level educational institutions include the University of Memphis , Christian Brothers University and Rhodes College . Occupying a substantial bluff rising from the Mississippi River, the site of Memphis has been a natural location for human settlement by varying indigenous cultures over thousands of years. In
22869-423: The appeal of the Nashville sound, many traditional country artists emerged during this period and dominated the genre: Loretta Lynn , Merle Haggard , Buck Owens , Porter Wagoner , George Jones , and Sonny James among them. In 1962, Ray Charles surprised the pop world by turning his attention to country and western music, topping the charts and rating number three for the year on Billboard's pop chart with
23100-679: The area annexed was slightly smaller than first proposed. In 1893 the city was rechartered with home rule , which restored its ability to enact taxes. The state legislature established a cap rate. Although the commission government was retained and enlarged to five commissioners, Democratic politicians regained control from the business elite. The commission form of government was believed effective in getting things done, but because all positions were elected at-large , requiring them to gain majority votes, this practice reduced representation by candidates representing significant minority political interests. In terms of its economy, Memphis developed as
23331-572: The basic ensemble consisted of classical guitar , bass guitar , dobro or steel guitar, though some larger ensembles featured electric guitars , trumpets , keyboards (especially the honky-tonk piano, a type of tack piano ), banjos , and drums . By the early 1950s it blended with rock and roll , becoming the rockabilly sound produced by Sam Phillips , Norman Petty , and Bob Keane . Musicians like Elvis Presley , Buddy Holly , Jerry Lee Lewis , Ritchie Valens , Carl Perkins , Roy Orbison , and Johnny Cash emerged as enduring representatives of
23562-544: The black settlement was left in ruins. Two whites were killed in the riot. Many blacks permanently fled Memphis afterward, especially as the Freedmen's Bureau continued to have difficulty in protecting them. Their population fell to about 15,000 by 1870, 37.4% of the total population of 40,226. Historian Barrington Walker suggests that the Irish rioted against blacks because of their relatively recent arrival as immigrants and
23793-401: The book with country music biographer Tom Carter. The second was written by Jimmy McDonough and titled Tammy Wynette: Tragic Country Queen . The book offered a detailed account of both Wynette's life and career told through his own words and interviews he gave of those close to Wynette. A second was published by Wynette's fourth child, Georgette Jones, and was titled The Three of Us . The book
24024-442: The charts. During the late 1960s, she had met and in 1969 married her third husband, fellow country artist George Jones . The pair had a recording career together that resulted in several number one country singles and a successful touring act. However, their relationship was tumultuous and they divorced in 1975. Following their separation Wynette returned as a headlining solo performer. She also continued to have singles regularly make
24255-678: The city has a majority African-American population. Memphis is well known for its cultural contributions to the identity of the American South . Many renowned musicians grew up in and around Memphis and moved to Chicago and other areas from the Mississippi Delta , carrying their music with them to influence other cities and listeners over radio airwaves. Former and current Memphis residents include musicians Elvis Presley , Jerry Lee Lewis , Muddy Waters , Carl Perkins , Johnny Cash , Robert Johnson , W. C. Handy , Bobby Whitlock , B.B. King , Howlin' Wolf , Isaac Hayes , Booker T. Jones , Eric Gales , Al Green , Alex Chilton , Three 6 Mafia ,
24486-496: The city population. The Union Army's presence attracted many fugitive slaves who had escaped from surrounding rural plantations. So many sought protection behind Union lines that the Army set up contraband camps to accommodate them. Memphis's black population increased from 3,000 in 1860, when the total population was 22,623, to nearly 20,000 in 1865, with most settling south of the city limits. The rapid demographic changes added to
24717-482: The city were the lower classes, such as German and Irish immigrant workers and African Americans. None had the means to flee the city, as did the middle and upper-class whites of Memphis, and thus they were subjected to a city of death. Immediately following the Board of Health's declaration, a Citizen's Relief Committee was formed by Charles G. Fisher. It organized the city into refugee camps. The committee's main priority
24948-493: The city. A massive panic ensued. The same trains and steamboats that had brought thousands into Memphis, in five days carried away more than 25,000 refugees, more than half of the city's population. On August 23, the Board of Health finally declared a yellow fever epidemic in Memphis, and the city collapsed, hemorrhaging its population. In July of that year, the city had a population of 47,000; by September, 19,000 remained, and 17,000 of them had yellow fever. The only people left in
25179-468: The country charts. Between 1972 and 1975, singer/guitarist John Denver released a series of hugely successful songs blending country and folk-rock musical styles (" Rocky Mountain High ", " Sunshine on My Shoulders ", " Annie's Song ", " Thank God I'm a Country Boy ", and " I'm Sorry "), and was named Country Music Entertainer of the Year in 1975. The year before, Olivia Newton-John, an Australian pop singer, won
25410-551: The country to come home. Though yellow fever cases were recorded in the pages of Elmwood Cemetery's burial record as late as February 29, 1874, the epidemic seemed quieted. The Board of Health declared the epidemic at an end after it had caused over 20,000 deaths and financial losses of nearly $ 200 million. On November 27, a general citizen's meeting was called at the Greenlaw Opera House to offer thanks to those who had stayed behind to serve, of whom many had died. Over
25641-465: The country. Many musicians performed and recorded songs in any number of styles. Moon Mullican , for example, played western swing but also recorded songs that can be called rockabilly . Between 1947 and 1949, country crooner Eddy Arnold placed eight songs in the top 10. From 1945 to 1955 Jenny Lou Carson was one of the most prolific songwriters in country music. In the 1930s and 1940s, cowboy songs, or western music, which had been recorded since
25872-653: The couple's dining room table. Jones and Wynette then proceeded to confess their love for each other to Chapel. Immediately after the incident, Jones escorted Wynette and her three daughters out of the Chapel home. They never returned. After leaving Chapel, they flew to Mexico to get a quick divorce . However, her marriage to Chapel was later annulled because she remarried quickly after her first marriage to Euple Byrd. Jones and Wynette officially wed on February 16, 1969, in Ringgold, Georgia . The couple then proceeded to move into
26103-430: The couple's divorce in 1968. She later claimed in her autobiography that Chapel had taken and traded nude photographs of her to other male colleagues. Chapel denied the allegations and later filed a lawsuit against her for $ 37 million. The couple had no children and Chapel died in 2015. Wynette first met George Jones while on tour with him in the late sixties. Jones was also friendly with her second husband, Don Chapel, and
26334-538: The courtship. She temporarily moved to Birmingham, Alabama , when she was 17, where her mother and Foy Lee were living at the time. She soon moved back to her grandparents' farm after her mother found her difficult to control. At age 17, she married Euple Byrd, which caused friction with Wynette's mother. The couple lived temporarily at Euple's family home and then in a small apartment in Tupelo, Mississippi . By this point, Wynette had become pregnant with her first child and
26565-833: The cowboy ballads, New Mexico , Texas country and Tejano music rhythms of the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico , reached its peak in popularity in the late 1950s, most notably with the song " El Paso ", first recorded by Marty Robbins in September 1959. Western music's influence would continue to grow within the country music sphere, western musicians like Michael Martin Murphey , New Mexico music artists Al Hurricane and Antonia Apodaca , Tejano music performer Little Joe , and even folk revivalist John Denver , all first rose to prominence during this time. This western music influence largely kept
26796-516: The creative achievement and financial success of the Loretta Lynn film bio, ' Coal Miner's Daughter .' Unfortunately, television will be television, and the results are lackluster and somewhat misleading." In 1986, Wynette joined the cast of the CBS soap opera Capitol , playing the role of a hair stylist-turned-singer, Darlene Stankowski. It was her first major acting role. In 1987, BBC released
27027-678: The danger of their work, and the struggles to support families with their low pay. Their drive for better pay had been met with resistance by the city government. Martin Luther King Jr. of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference , known for his leadership in the non-violent movement, came to lend his support to the workers' cause. King stayed at the Lorraine Motel in the city, and was assassinated by James Earl Ray on April 4, 1968,
27258-526: The day after giving his I've Been to the Mountaintop speech at the Mason Temple . After learning of King's murder, many African Americans in the city rioted, looting and destroying businesses and other facilities, some by arson. The governor ordered Tennessee National Guardsmen into the city within hours, where small, roving bands of rioters continued to be active. Fearing the violence, more of
27489-567: The disease carried by river passengers traveling by ships along the waterways. During the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878, more than 5,000 people were listed in the official register of deaths between July 26 and November 27. The vast majority died of yellow fever, making the epidemic in the city of 40,000 one of the most traumatic and severe in urban U.S. history. Within four days of the Memphis Board of Health's declaration of
27720-839: The door for female artists with her history-making song "I Want To Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart". This would begin a movement toward opportunities for women to have successful solo careers. Bob Wills was another country musician from the Lower Great Plains who had become very popular as the leader of a " hot string band ," and who also appeared in Hollywood westerns . His mix of country and jazz , which started out as dance hall music, would become known as western swing . Cliff Bruner , Moon Mullican , Milton Brown and Adolph Hofner were other early western swing pioneers. Spade Cooley and Tex Williams also had very popular bands and appeared in films. At its height, western swing rivaled
27951-671: The earliest stars of what would come to be known as country music. His band, the Skillet Lickers , was one of the most innovative and influential string bands of the 1920s and 1930s. Its most notable members were Clayton McMichen (fiddle and vocal), Dan Hornsby (vocals), Riley Puckett (guitar and vocal) and Robert Lee Sweat (guitar). New York City record label Okeh Records began issuing hillbilly music records by Fiddlin' John Carson as early as 1923, followed by Columbia Records (series 15000D "Old Familiar Tunes") ( Samantha Bumgarner ) in 1924, and RCA Victor Records in 1927 with
28182-408: The early 1960s, however, it was rare for a country band not to have a drummer. Bob Wills was one of the first country musicians known to have added an electric guitar to his band, in 1938. A decade later (1948) Arthur Smith achieved top 10 US country chart success with his MGM Records recording of " Guitar Boogie ", which crossed over to the US pop chart, introducing many people to the potential of
28413-630: The early country musicians, such as the yodeler Cliff Carlisle , recorded blues songs into the 1930s. Other important early recording artists were Riley Puckett , Don Richardson , Fiddlin' John Carson , Uncle Dave Macon , Al Hopkins , Ernest V. Stoneman , Blind Alfred Reed , Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers and the Skillet Lickers . The steel guitar entered country music as early as 1922, when Jimmie Tarlton met famed Hawaiian guitarist Frank Ferera on
28644-585: The early eighties: Nelson charted " Always on My Mind " (#5, 1982) and " To All the Girls I've Loved Before " (#5, 1984, a duet with Julio Iglesias ), and Newton achieved success with " Queen of Hearts " (#2, 1981) and " Angel of the Morning " (#4, 1981). Four country songs topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1980s: " Lady " by Kenny Rogers , from the late fall of 1980; " 9 to 5 " by Dolly Parton , " I Love
28875-423: The election of all the at-large positions. Memphis did not become a home rule city until 1963, although the state legislature had amended the constitution in 1953 to provide home rule for cities and counties. Before that, the city had to get state bills approved in order to change its charter and other policies and programs. Since 1963, it can change the charter by popular approval of the electorate. During
29106-528: The electric guitar. For several decades Nashville session players preferred the warm tones of the Gibson and Gretsch archtop electrics, but a "hot" Fender style, using guitars which became available beginning in the early 1950s, eventually prevailed as the signature guitar sound of country. Country musicians began recording boogie in 1939, shortly after it had been played at Carnegie Hall , when Johnny Barfield recorded "Boogie Woogie". The trickle of what
29337-481: The end of World War II with "mountaineer" string band music known as bluegrass , which emerged when Bill Monroe , along with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs , were introduced by Roy Acuff at the Grand Ole Opry. Gospel music remained a popular component of country music. The Native American , Hispano, and American frontier music of the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico , became popular among poor communities in New Mexico , Oklahoma , and Texas ;
29568-523: The end of slavery , the city continued to grow into the 20th century. It became among the largest world markets for cotton and hardwood . Home to Tennessee's largest African-American population, Memphis played a prominent role in the American Civil Rights Movement . Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968 after activities supporting a strike by the city's maintenance workers. The National Civil Rights Museum
29799-496: The epidemic bankrupted Memphis, and as a result, its charter was revoked by the state legislature. By 1870, Memphis's population of 40,000 was almost double that of Nashville and Atlanta, and it was the second-largest city in the South after New Orleans. Its population continued to grow after 1870, even when the Panic of 1873 hit the US hard, particularly in the South. The Panic of 1873 resulted in expanding Memphis's underclasses amid
30030-536: The epidemic reported seeing as many as 100 to 150 patients daily. The Episcopal Community of St. Mary at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral played an important role during the epidemic in caring for the lower classes. Already supporting a girls' school and church orphanage, the Sisters of St. Mary also sought to provide care for the Canfield Asylum, a home for black children. Each day, they alternated caring for
30261-437: The family home; her grandfather signed the papers that legalized their marriage. Byrd and Wynette fought throughout their relationship. Many of their marital conflicts stemmed from Byrd being unable to hold down a steady job. After becoming pregnant again, Wynette asked Euple to leave but he kept returning. After one argument, Wynette suffered a "nervous breakdown", according to biographer Jimmy McDonough, and her family took her to
30492-483: The fifth-busiest inland water port in the U.S. The Globalization and World Cities Research Network considers Memphis a "Sufficiency" level global city as of 2020. Memphis is a center for media and entertainment, notably a historic music scene . With blues clubs on Beale Street originating the unique Memphis blues sound, the city has been nicknamed the "Home of the Blues". Its music has continued to be shaped by
30723-529: The first all-country radio station was established in Lubbock, Texas . The music of the 1960s and 1970s targeted the American working class, and truckers in particular. As country radio became more popular, trucking songs like the 1963 hit song Six Days on the Road by Dave Dudley began to make up their own subgenre of country. These revamped songs sought to portray American truckers as a "new folk hero", marking
30954-406: The first famous pioneers of the genre Jimmie Rodgers , who is widely considered the "Father of Country Music", and the first family of country music the Carter Family . Many "hillbilly" musicians recorded blues songs throughout the 1920s. During the second generation (1930s–1940s), radio became a popular source of entertainment, and "barn dance" shows featuring country music were started all over
31185-556: The first millennium A.D. people of the Mississippian culture were prominent; the culture influenced a network of communities throughout the Mississippi River Valley and its tributaries. The hierarchical societies built complexes with large earthwork ceremonial and burial mounds as expressions of their sophisticated culture. The Chickasaw people, believed to be their descendants, later inhabited this site and
31416-454: The former crossing over to the US pop charts. Other country boogie artists included Moon Mullican , Merrill Moore and Tennessee Ernie Ford . The hillbilly boogie period lasted into the 1950s and remains one of many subgenres of country into the 21st century. By the end of World War II , "mountaineer" string band music known as bluegrass had emerged when Bill Monroe joined with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs , introduced by Roy Acuff at
31647-682: The franchise until after the passage of civil rights legislation in the mid-1960s.) Historian L. B. Wrenn suggests the heightened political hostility of the Democratic contest and related social tensions contributed to a white mob lynching three black grocers in Memphis in 1892 . Journalist Ida B. Wells of Memphis investigated the lynchings, as one of the men killed was a friend of hers. She demonstrated that these and other lynchings were more often due to economic and social competition than any criminal offenses by black men. Her findings were considered so controversial and aroused so much anger that she
31878-626: The freedmen. Unlike the disturbances in some other cities, ex-Confederate veterans were generally not part of the attacks against blacks in Memphis. As a result of the riots in Memphis, and a similar one in New Orleans, Louisiana in September, Congress passed the Reconstruction Act and the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution . In the 1870s, a series of yellow fever epidemics devastated Memphis, with
32109-411: The industry lacked her passion for the movement. During the mid-1970s, Dolly Parton , a successful mainstream country artist since the late 1960s, mounted a high-profile campaign to cross over to pop music, culminating in her 1977 hit " Here You Come Again ", which topped the U.S. country singles chart, and also reached No. 3 on the pop singles charts. Parton's male counterpart, Kenny Rogers , came from
32340-549: The initial blending of the two polar opposite genres, other offspring soon resulted, including Southern rock , heartland rock and in more recent years, alternative country . In the decades that followed, artists such as Juice Newton , Alabama , Hank Williams, Jr. (and, to an even greater extent, Hank Williams III ), Gary Allan , Shania Twain , Brooks & Dunn , Faith Hill , Garth Brooks , Dwight Yoakam , Steve Earle , Dolly Parton , Rosanne Cash and Linda Ronstadt moved country further towards rock influence. In 1980,
32571-406: The late 1950s and 1960s. Songs such as the 1963 Johnny Cash popularized " Ring of Fire " show clear influences from the likes of Al Hurricane and Little Joe , this influence just happened to culminate with artists such as Ray Price (whose band, the "Cherokee Cowboys", included Willie Nelson and Roger Miller ) and mixed with the anger of an alienated subculture of the nation during the period,
32802-407: The late 2000s and early 2010s. Most of the best-selling country songs of this era were those by Lady A , Florida Georgia Line , Carrie Underwood , and Taylor Swift . Hip hop also made its mark on country music with the emergence of country rap . The first commercial recordings of what was considered instrumental music in the traditional country style were " Arkansas Traveler " and " Turkey in
33033-604: The latter part of the western heyday in country music, many of these genres featured popular artists that continue to influence both their distinctive genres and larger country music. Red Dirt featured Bob Childers and Steve Ripley ; for New Mexico music Al Hurricane , Al Hurricane Jr. , and Antonia Apodaca ; and within the Texas scenes Willie Nelson , Freddie Fender , Johnny Rodriguez , and Little Joe . As Outlaw country music emerged as subgenre in its own right, Red Dirt, New Mexico, Texas country, and Tejano grew in popularity as
33264-508: The local Chickasaw so that a Spanish fort could be erected on the bluff; Fort San Fernando De Las Barrancas was the result. Holmes notes that consent was reached despite opposition from "disappointed Americans and a pro-American faction of the Chickasaws" when the "pro-Spanish faction signed the Chickasaw Bluffs Cession and Spain provided the Chickasaws with a trading post". Fort San Fernando de las Barrancas remained
33495-417: The mid-1950s, and reaching its peak during the early 1960s, the Nashville sound turned country music into a multimillion-dollar industry centered in Nashville, Tennessee . Under the direction of producers such as Chet Atkins , Bill Porter , Paul Cohen , Owen Bradley , Bob Ferguson , and later Billy Sherrill , the sound brought country music to a diverse audience and helped revive country as it emerged from
33726-432: The mid-60's onward" created "a solid female perspective on country radio that the listening public badly craved." Meanwhile, rock critic Robert Christgau found Wynette's "sultry" delivery to have "archetypal power". Wynette was among country music's most commercially successful and popular artists. She followed it with ten more singles that topped the Billboard country chart: " Singing My Song " (1969), " The Ways to Love
33957-482: The middle of her schooling, Euple found work in Memphis, Tennessee, and the young family moved there. In Memphis, she obtained a job as a barmaid and sang for customers. Both the bar owner and the building's in-house pianist were impressed by Wynette's talents and encouraged a move to Nashville, Tennessee . However, the family soon returned to Tupelo where she finished cosmetology school. After becoming famous, she continued renewing her cosmetology license every year for
34188-490: The middle-class began to leave the city for the suburbs. In 1970, the Census Bureau reported Memphis's population as 60.8% white and 38.9% black. Suburbanization was attracting wealthier residents to newer housing outside the city. After the riots and court-ordered busing in 1973 to achieve desegregation of public schools, "about 40,000 of the system's 71,000 white students abandon[ed] the system in four years." Today,
34419-585: The more polished country-pop sound that had been prominent on radio and the charts in favor of more traditional "back-to-basics" production. During the fifth generation (the 1990s), neotraditionalists and stadium country acts prospered. The sixth generation (2000s–present) has seen a certain amount of diversification in regard to country music styles. It has also, however, seen a shift into patriotism and conservative politics since 9/11 , though such themes are less prevalent in more modern trends. The influence of rock music in country has become more overt during
34650-619: The move to Nashville in January 1966 with her three children and all their belongings in their car. After she arrived in Nashville, Wynette moved into the Anchor Motel while she attempted to secure a recording contract. She met her future husband, musician Don Chapel, at the motel. They eventually moved into an East Nashville apartment and put together a road show. For several months the pair performed in several states, including Georgia and Pennsylvania. Chapel attempted to help Wynette secure
34881-400: The movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? depicts a similar occurrence in the same timeframe. Rodgers fused hillbilly country, gospel, jazz, blues, pop, cowboy, and folk, and many of his best songs were his compositions, including " Blue Yodel ", which sold over a million records and established Rodgers as the premier singer of early country music. Beginning in 1927, and for the next 17 years,
35112-441: The music of the folk revival and folk rock from influencing the country music genre much, despite the similarity in instrumentation and origins (see, for instance, the Byrds ' negative reception during their appearance on the Grand Ole Opry ). The main concern was largely political: most folk revival was largely driven by progressive activists, a stark contrast to the culturally conservative audiences of country music. John Denver
35343-419: The music, it was something that got written in an article, and the young people said, 'Well, that's pretty cool.' And started listening." (Willie Nelson) The term outlaw country is traditionally associated with Willie Nelson , Jerry Jeff Walker , Hank Williams, Jr. , Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings and Joe Ely . It was encapsulated in the 1976 album Wanted! The Outlaws . Though the outlaw movement as
35574-400: The name on Wynette's tomb was changed from "Tammy Wynette" to "Virginia W. Richardson", her legal married name at the time of her death. Wynette's daughters were angered by the name change. Through Facebook , they launched a petition to urge fans to help change the name of her tomb back to "Tammy Wynette". More than 3,000 fans voted in support of the petition. In March 2014, the name on the tomb
35805-414: The naval Battle of Memphis on June 6, 1862, and the city and state were occupied by the Union Army for the duration of the war. Union commanders allowed the city to maintain its civil government during most of this period but excluded Confederate States Army veterans from office. This shifted political dynamics in the city as the war went on. The war years contributed to additional dramatic changes in
36036-402: The next year property tax revenues collapsed, and the city could not make payments on its municipal debts. As a result, Memphis temporarily lost its city charter and was reclassified by the state legislature as a Taxing District from 1878 to 1893. But a new era of sanitation was developed in the city, a new municipal government in 1879 helped form the first regional health organization, and during
36267-447: The opposite direction, aiming his music at the country charts, after a successful career in pop, rock and folk music with the First Edition , achieving success the same year with " Lucille ", which topped the country charts and reached No. 5 on the U.S. pop singles charts, as well as reaching Number 1 on the British all-genre chart. Parton and Rogers would both continue to have success on both country and pop charts simultaneously, well into
36498-401: The orphans at St. Mary's, delivering children to the Canfield Asylum, and taking soup and medicine on house calls to patients. Between September 9 and October 4, Sister Constance and three other nuns fell victim to the epidemic and died. They later became known as the Martyrs of Memphis. At long last, on October 28, a killing frost struck. The city sent out word to Memphians scattered all over
36729-404: The pair reconciled. Shortly afterwards, they recorded the autobiographical single, " We're Gonna Hold On ". It became their first song to top the Billboard country chart. An album of the same name charted at number three on the Country LPs list. It was followed by the top ten single " We Loved It Away " in 1974. After a fight between the couple, Wynette filed for divorce again. This time however,
36960-598: The pair went through with it and they officially split in 1975. Despite their divorce, they were coaxed back into the studio once more to record the album Golden Ring . Its title track became the duo's second Billboard number one country single, while also reaching number five in Canada in 1976. Despite her divorce from George Jones, Wynette had to continue her career. However, she had anxiety about doing so. Fans would shout, "Where's George?" during most early performances following their split. "Even though I'd been on stage for eight years, I didn't know how to communicate with
37191-491: The people," she recalled. Previously a packaged act with Jones, Wynette created her own stage show for the first time. She hired the Gatlin Brothers ( Larry Gatlin and his brothers Rudy and Steve) to be her road band. She also hired several women as part of her road crew. Wynette included up-tempo gospel songs to energize the audience along with slow ballads that were "extraordinarily intimate," according to writers Mary A. Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann . In 1976, she returned to
37422-509: The poorer whites and blacks fundamentally made up the city and played the greatest role in rebuilding it. The epidemic had resulted in Memphis being a less cosmopolitan place, with an economy that served the cotton trade and a population drawn increasingly from poor white and black Southerners. The 1890 election was strongly contested, resulting in white opponents of the D. P. Hadden faction working to deprive them of votes by disenfranchising blacks . The state had enacted several laws, including
37653-415: The pop charts with their records. In 1975, author Paul Hemphill stated in the Saturday Evening Post , "Country music isn't really country anymore; it is a hybrid of nearly every form of popular music in America." During the early 1980s, country artists continued to see their records perform well on the pop charts. Willie Nelson and Juice Newton each had two songs in the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100 in
37884-507: The popularity of big band swing music. Drums were scorned by early country musicians as being "too loud" and "not pure", but by 1935 western swing big band leader Bob Wills had added drums to the Texas Playboys . In the mid-1940s, the Grand Ole Opry did not want the Playboys' drummer to appear on stage. Although drums were commonly used by rockabilly groups by 1955, the less-conservative-than-the-Grand-Ole-Opry Louisiana Hayride kept its infrequently used drummer backstage as late as 1956. By
38115-438: The post-war period, country music was called "folk" in the trades, and "hillbilly" within the industry. In 1944, Billboard replaced the term "hillbilly" with "folk songs and blues," and switched to "country and western" in 1949. Another type of stripped-down and raw music with a variety of moods and a basic ensemble of guitar, bass, dobro or steel guitar (and later) drums became popular, especially among rural residents in
38346-416: The poverty and hardship it wrought, giving further credence to Memphis as a rough, shiftless city. Leading up to the outbreak in 1878, it had suffered two yellow fever epidemics, cholera , and malaria , giving it a reputation as sickly and filthy. It was unheard of for a city with a population as large as Memphis's not to have any waterworks; the city still relied for supplies entirely on collecting water from
38577-434: The program from six to eight o'clock each morning before going to school, then went to work at the Midfield Beauty Salon. She received 45 dollars per week. She befriended the show's pianist, David Vest , who helped record demos . The pair often performed together, playing piano bars in the Birmingham area. Wynette started visiting a local radio station called WYAM and met disc jockey Fred Lehner. She accompanied Lehner on
38808-432: The project were penned by the trio, including one composed by Wynette herself. Honky Tonk Angels reached number six on the Billboard country albums chart and number 42 on the Billboard 200. It was Wynette's first top ten Billboard album in 18 years and her first album in 22 years to certify gold in the United States. AllMusic's Kelly McCartney called it "a fun listen" while the Songwriters Hall of Fame described it as
39039-436: The pseudonym "Thumper Jones", wanting to capitalize on the popularity of rockabilly without alienating his traditional country base. Cash and Presley placed songs in the top 5 in 1958 with No. 3 "Guess Things Happen That Way/Come In, Stranger" by Cash, and No. 5 by Presley "Don't/I Beg of You." Presley acknowledged the influence of rhythm and blues artists and his style, saying "The colored folk been singin' and playin' it just
39270-478: The publisher's summary of L.B. Wrenn's study of the period, "This centralization of political power in a small commission aided the efficient transaction of municipal business, but the public policies that resulted from it tended to benefit upper-class Memphians while neglecting the less affluent residents and neighborhoods." The city installed a revolutionary sewer system and upgraded sanitation and drainage to prevent another epidemic. Pure water from an artesian well
39501-408: The remains of Confederate General and Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest were removed from a Memphis park. On January 7, 2023, after a routine traffic stop, five African American police officers brutally beat a 29-year-old African American man, Tyre Nichols . Nichols died from his injuries in the hospital three days later. Officer body cam footage and local surveillance cameras captured
39732-403: The requirement of poll taxes , that made it more difficult for them to register to vote and served to disenfranchise many blacks. Although political party factions in the future sometimes paid poll taxes to enable blacks to vote, African Americans lost their last positions on the city council in this election and were forced out of the police force. (They did not recover the ability to exercise
39963-443: The rest of her life, in case she ever had to go back to a daily job. Wynette ultimately left her first marriage and moved to Birmingham, Alabama . Wynette moved to Birmingham in 1964 and lived with her paternal grandparents, uncle, and cousins. She discovered that her cosmetology license wouldn't transfer to Alabama, so she enrolled at a beauty college. Her paternal family also encouraged Wynette's musical talents. Her uncle worked for
40194-424: The river and rain cisterns, and had no way to remove sewage. The combination of a swelling population, especially of lower and working classes, and abysmal health and sanitary conditions made Memphis ripe for a serious epidemic. Kate Bionda, an owner of an Italian "snack house", died of a fever on August 13, 1878. Hers was officially reported by the Board of Health, on August 14, as the first case of yellow fever in
40425-404: The roles. It was reviewed unfavorably by newspaper critics. The New York Times commented, "The rags-to-riches sagas, presumably meant to be inspiring, tend to get trapped under a cloud of dreariness," wrote John O'Connor. "Suspicious viewers may legitimately conclude that the whole Tammy Wynette story has yet to be told." Richard Harrington of The Washington Post wrote, "It seems to capitalize on
40656-675: The same name , which charted at number 32 on the Billboard country LPs survey. Amidst a commercial comeback, Wynette also faced several setbacks. In late 1986, Wynette entered the Betty Ford Center to treat her addiction to prescription drugs. Two years later, Wynette and her husband declared bankruptcy following several failed investments. Wynette's longtime label released her next album titled Higher Ground in 1987. The second Buckingham-produced project, he described it as "a more rural, more back-home" album. It featured collaborations with Emmylou Harris , Ricky Skaggs , The O'Kanes , Gene Watson , and Larry Gatlin. Bufwack and Oermann called it
40887-408: The same time there was a lack of enthusiasm in the country sector for Nashville-produced music. What resulted was a crossbred genre known as country rock . Fourth generation (1970s–1980s) music included outlaw country with roots in the Bakersfield sound , and country pop with roots in the countrypolitan , folk music and soft rock . Between 1972 and 1975 singer/guitarist John Denver released
41118-410: The second-best-selling album in the US with 29 million copies sold. The Rolling Stones also got into the act with songs like " Dead Flowers "; the original recording of " Honky Tonk Women " was performed in a country style, but it was subsequently re-recorded in a hard rock style for the single version, and the band's preferred country version was later released on the album Let It Bleed , under
41349-435: The single was being routinely played on MTV and reached number one in 18 countries. In 1993, Wynette joined with Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton to record the studio album Honky Tonk Angels . Parton herself explained that she wanted to make the project "before one of us goes". Consisting of classic country recordings performed in three-part harmonies, the album reunited Wynette with Steve Buckingham. Several selections on
41580-527: The stress of war and occupation and uncertainty about who was in charge, increasing tensions between the city's ethnic Irish policemen and black Union soldiers after the war. In three days of rioting in early May 1866, the Memphis Riots erupted, in which white mobs made up of policemen, firemen, and other mostly ethnic Irish Americans attacked and killed 46 blacks, wounding 75 and injuring 100; raped several women; and destroyed nearly 100 houses while severely damaging churches and schools in South Memphis. Much of
41811-407: The studio to record the single " Stand by Your Man ". Reportedly written by Wynette and Billy Sherrill in 15 minutes, the song's emphasis on women standing by their husbands made her a spokeswoman for the working class housewife. It also received criticism from the feminist movement who found it too conservative. "Stand by Your Man" topped the Billboard and RPM country charts, reached number 19 on
42042-404: The style. Beginning in the mid-1950s, and reaching its peak during the early 1960s, the Nashville sound turned country music into a multimillion-dollar industry centered in Nashville, Tennessee ; Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves were two of the most broadly popular Nashville sound artists, and their deaths in separate plane crashes in the early 1960s were a factor in the genre's decline. Starting in
42273-659: The subgenre. Dudley is known as the father of truck driving country. During the mid-1980s, a group of new artists began to emerge who rejected the more polished country-pop sound that had been prominent on radio and the charts, in favor of more, traditional, "back-to-basics" production. Many of the artists during the latter half of the 1980s drew on traditional honky-tonk, bluegrass, folk and western swing. Artists who typified this sound included Travis Tritt , Reba McEntire , George Strait , Keith Whitley , Alan Jackson , John Anderson , Patty Loveless , Kathy Mattea , Randy Travis , Dwight Yoakam , Clint Black , Ricky Skaggs , and
42504-433: The three often spent time together. According to Wynette, Jones helped her one evening when one of her children was hospitalized with food poisoning. The following day, Jones stopped by Chapel and Wynette's home. Chapel was irritated with Wynette because she would not stop playing Jones's music on their record player. Chapel then began directing derogatory words and profanity at her. Angered by Chapel's conduct, Jones overturned
42735-410: The three states of Texhomex , those being Tex as , Okla ho ma , and New Mex ico . It became known as honky tonk and had its roots in western swing and the ranchera music of Mexico and the border states, particularly New Mexico and Texas, together with the blues of the American South. Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys personified this music which has been described as "a little bit of this, and
42966-481: The title "Country Honk". Described by AllMusic as the "father of country-rock", Gram Parsons' work in the early 1970s was acclaimed for its purity and for his appreciation for aspects of traditional country music. Though his career was cut tragically short by his 1973 death, his legacy was carried on by his protégé and duet partner Emmylou Harris ; Harris would release her debut solo in 1975, an amalgamation of country, rock and roll, folk, blues and pop. Subsequent to
43197-449: The top of American and Canadian country songs charts with " 'Til I Can Make It on My Own ". It was her first Billboard chart-topper as a solo artist in almost three years. The song was co-written by Wynette and reflected her life following the divorce. According to Wynette, it was her favorite song she recorded in her career. Her album of the same name reached number three on the Billboard country LPs chart. "'Til I Can Make It on My Own"
43428-418: The track. Wynette accepted and Drummond helped produce it. Although she had difficulty singing in-time to the track, the song was pieced together by studio engineers when Drummond returned to England. The dance-pop song centering around an imaginary setting called "Mu Mu Land" was considered a departure from Wynette's previous recordings in terms of song choice and production. It became a chart success. By 1992,
43659-437: The trucking song subgenre following the success of Six Days on the Road and asked Red Simpson to record an album of trucking songs. Haggard's White Line Fever was also part of the trucking subgenre. The country music scene of the 1940s until the 1970s was largely dominated by western music influences, so much so that the genre began to be called "country and western". Even today, cowboy and frontier values continue to play
43890-462: The uncertain nature of their own claim to "whiteness"; they were trying to distinguish themselves from blacks in the underclass. The main fighting participants were ethnic Irish, decommissioned black Union soldiers, and newly emancipated African-American freedmen . Walker suggests that most of the mob was not in direct economic conflict with the blacks, as by then the Irish had attained better jobs, but were establishing social and political dominance over
44121-620: The upper reaches of the country charts into the 1980s. During this time, she also acted on several television shows, including Capitol (1986). Wynette had several more high-profile relationships before marrying her final husband, George Richey , in 1978. Several intestinal health problems led to hospitalizations and addictions to prescription pain killers, the latter of which was said to have led to her death in 1998. Wynette has sold an estimated 30 million records worldwide. She has received two Grammy Awards , three Country Music Association awards, and two Academy of Country Music Awards . Wynette
44352-405: The way I'm doin' it now, man for more years than I know." Within a few years, many rockabilly musicians returned to a more mainstream style or had defined their own unique style. Country music gained national television exposure through Ozark Jubilee on ABC-TV and radio from 1955 to 1960 from Springfield, Missouri . The program showcased top stars including several rockabilly artists, some from
44583-479: The world's largest spot cotton market and the world's largest hardwood lumber market, both commodity products of the Mississippi Delta. Into the 1950s, it was also the world's largest mule market. These animals were still used extensively for agriculture. Attracting workers from Southern rural areas as well as new European immigrants, from 1900 to 1950 the city increased nearly fourfold in population, from 102,350 to 396,000 residents. Racist violence continued into
44814-426: The year of rockabilly in country music. Rockabilly was an early form of rock and roll , an upbeat combination of blues and country music. The number two, three and four songs on Billboard's charts for that year were Elvis Presley , " Heartbreak Hotel "; Johnny Cash , " I Walk the Line "; and Carl Perkins , " Blue Suede Shoes ". Reflecting this success, George Jones released a rockabilly record that year under
45045-455: Was "introduced to the world as a Southern phenomenon." Migration into the southern Appalachian Mountains , of the Southeastern United States , brought the folk music and instruments of Europe and the Mediterranean Basin along with it for nearly 300 years, which developed into Appalachian music . As the country expanded westward, the Mississippi River and Louisiana became a crossroads for country music, giving rise to Cajun music . In
45276-412: Was a female performer. "I had begun to realize I was working in a man's world, and most of them looked down on women in the business", she later explained. In 1967, Epic released " Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad ". It climbed to number three on the Billboard country singles chart and was Wynette's first chart success. Her debut album of the same name was also released in 1967 and reached number seven on
45507-471: Was a front desk attendant at the Red Anchor Motel in Nashville where Wynette was staying. The pair developed a romantic relationship through their day-to-day interactions at the motel. Chapel was also an aspiring songwriter and musician. He would later write several popular country songs, including one made commercially successful by George Jones titled " When the Grass Grows Over Me ". The couple married in 1967. Her growing affection for George Jones would lead to
45738-438: Was already an established country star) all recorded significant country hits in the early 1980s. Sales in record stores rocketed to $ 250 million in 1981; by 1984, 900 radio stations began programming country or neocountry pop full-time. As with most sudden trends, however, by 1984 sales had dropped below 1979 figures. Truck-driving country music is a genre of country music and is a fusion of honky-tonk , country rock and
45969-442: Was also among country music's first female performers to have discs certify gold and platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America . Her influence as a country music artist led to several inductions into music associations. This includes inductions into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame . Virginia Wynette Pugh was born in Itawamba County, Mississippi , in 1942. The farm where she
46200-399: Was also used for Wynette to inject food because of her intestinal issues. Richey was later dropped as a defendant from the suit, a court dismissed the claims against Care Solutions, and the remaining parties reached a confidential settlement with the doctor. Wynette's remains were re-interred in the Woodlawn Cross Mausoleum at Woodlawn Memorial Park , Nashville, Tennessee. In March 2012,
46431-563: Was an important component of this style. The Nashville Sound collapsed in mainstream popularity in 1964, a victim of both the British Invasion and the deaths of Reeves and Cline in separate airplane crashes. By the mid-1960s, the genre had developed into countrypolitan . Countrypolitan was aimed straight at mainstream markets, and it sold well throughout the later 1960s into the early 1970s. Top artists included Tammy Wynette , Lynn Anderson and Charlie Rich , as well as such former "hard country" artists as Ray Price and Marty Robbins . Despite
46662-593: Was another country musician from the Lower Great Plains who had become very popular as the leader of a " hot string band ," and who also appeared in Hollywood westerns . His mix of country and jazz , which started out as dance hall music, would become known as western swing . Wills was one of the first country musicians known to have added an electric guitar to his band, in 1938. Country musicians began recording boogie in 1939, shortly after it had been played at Carnegie Hall , when Johnny Barfield recorded "Boogie Woogie". The third generation (1950s–1960s) started at
46893-550: Was becoming difficult to think of new album concepts for Wynette. This resulted in a temporary end to their professional partnership. Instead, she was paired with producer Norro Wilson for 1989's Next to You and Bob Montgomery for 1990's Heart Over Mind . Singles spawned from both albums reached positions outside the Billboard and RPM country top 40. As Wynette's career entered the 1990s, several new team members were hired to manage her business affairs. These included Epic vice president Mark Martinovich, who had to convince
47124-443: Was born was near the Alabama state line, between Red Bay, Alabama , and Tremont, Mississippi . She later credited both Alabama and Mississippi as her home states. She was the only child born to Mildred Faye Russell and William Hollis Pugh. Mildred Russell was a school teacher, while William Pugh was an aspiring musician who played guitar and sang in a group. Her father was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and died when Wynette
47355-424: Was changed back through a court order. Wynette married Euple Byrd (who was five years her senior) when she was 17, one month before her high-school graduation. She originally intended to marry his brother, D.C., but the relationship ended when he remarried his first wife. Wynette was not yet of legal age so her mother was required to sign the marriage paperwork, but she refused and instead forced her daughter to leave
47586-400: Was contested by European settlers as Memphis developed. By 1819, when modern Memphis was founded, it was part of the United States territory. John Overton , James Winchester , and Andrew Jackson founded the city. Based on the wealth of cotton plantations and river traffic along the Mississippi, Memphis grew into one of the largest cities of the Antebellum South . After the Civil War and
47817-439: Was discovered in the 1880s, securing the city's water supply. The commissioners developed an extensive network of parks and public works as part of the national City Beautiful movement , but did not encourage heavy industry, which might have provided substantial employment for the working-class population. The lack of representation in city government resulted in the poor and minorities being underrepresented. The majority controlled
48048-413: Was established there and is a Smithsonian affiliate institution. Since the civil rights era, Memphis has become one of the nation's leading commercial centers in transportation and logistics . The largest employer is FedEx , which maintains its global air hub at Memphis International Airport . In 2021, Memphis was the world's second-busiest cargo airport. The International Port of Memphis also hosts
48279-457: Was focused on Georgette's own account of being Wynette's daughter and living her life with her father, George Jones. It was said Georgette wrote the book in response to the unfavorable portrayal of her mother in Jimmy McDonough's book. A limited series that will focus on Wynette and Jones's marriage began production in mid-2022. Titled George and Tammy , it features Jessica Chastain in the role of Wynette and Michael Shannon as Jones. The series
48510-421: Was forced to move away from the city. But she continued to investigate and publish the abuses of lynching . Businessmen were eager to increase the city population after the losses of 1878–79, and supported the annexation of new areas; this measure was passed in 1890 before the census. The annexation measure was finally approved by the state legislature through a compromise achieved with real estate magnates, and
48741-516: Was given the opportunity to live rent-free at a home owned by her grandfather. Built in 1844, the home had no running water, heat, or electricity. Friend Linda Cayson helped Wynette nail cardboard boxes to the walls to keep the wind out during the winter months. In 1963, Euple obtained a job in Red Bay, Alabama , that allowed the family to move to a home with more amenities. To help sustain themselves financially, Wynette convinced her mother to help pay for her to attend Mrs. McGuire's School of Beauty. In
48972-496: Was given. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy declared Wynette died from cardiac arrhythmia . The autopsy also revealed that Wynette had several powerful drugs in her system at the time of her death including Versed and Phenergan . Jackie Daly noted that her mother was regularly taking these drugs at the time of her death. Wynette used syringes and was later fitted with a permanent catheter into her side that allowed drugs to directly enter her bloodstream. The catheter
49203-548: Was held at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium on April 9, 1998. The service was televised live by cable networks CNN and The Nashville Network . Parton gave remarks and performed a specially written song, closing her performance with a chorus from " I Will Always Love You ". Country stars Wynonna Judd and Lorrie Morgan also performed while Merle Haggard offered his performance through a prerecorded video. Eulogies were given by other notable country artists, including Naomi Judd . A private, graveside service had been held earlier with
49434-436: Was her second to make the Billboard Hot 100 and also her first to top Canada's RPM country chart. The recordings appeared on Wynette's third studio disc, Take Me to Your World / I Don't Wanna Play House , which reached number three on the Country LPs chart in 1968. Wynette started touring amidst her newfound success. She was joined by second husband, Don Chapel, and a band called the Countrypolitans. The group featured
49665-476: Was initially called hillbilly boogie, or okie boogie (later to be renamed country boogie), became a flood beginning in late 1945. One notable release from this period was the Delmore Brothers ' "Freight Train Boogie", considered to be part of the combined evolution of country music and blues towards rockabilly . In 1948, Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith achieved top ten US country chart success with his MGM Records recordings of " Guitar Boogie " and "Banjo Boogie", with
49896-582: Was known as the Bakersfield sound . It relied on electric instruments and amplification, in particular the Telecaster electric guitar, more than other subgenres of the country music of the era, and it can be described as having a sharp, hard, driving, no-frills, edgy flavor—hard guitars and honky-tonk harmonies. Leading practitioners of this style were Buck Owens , Merle Haggard , Tommy Collins , Dwight Yoakam , Gary Allan , and Wynn Stewart , each of whom had his own style. Ken Nelson , who had produced Owens and Haggard and Rose Maddox became interested in
50127-440: Was most popular with country fans in the 1950s; one of the first rock and roll superstars was former western yodeler Bill Haley , who repurposed his Four Aces of Western Swing into a rock and roll band in the early 1950s and renamed it the Comets . Bill Haley & His Comets are credited with two of the first successful rock and roll records, " Crazy Man, Crazy " of 1953 and " Rock Around the Clock " in 1954. 1956 could be called
50358-632: Was nominated for Song of the Year by the Country Music Association, while Wynette herself was nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year. Her next release, " You and Me ", also topped the Billboard country chart, while a corresponding studio LP reached the country albums top five. A duet with Jones recorded the year before, " Near You ", also topped the North American country charts in 1976. Several incidents in Wynette's personal life also occurred during this period. These incidents included several short-term relationships, house burglaries , and alleged kidnappings . She also developed health problems that led to
50589-474: Was only nine months old. Weeks before his death, Wynette's father brought her to the family piano and insisted she learn to play when she became old enough. Following his death, Wynette's mother moved to Memphis, Tennessee , where she worked in a defense plant during World War II . She was left in the care of her grandparents and picked cotton on their Mississippi farm. "I hated every minute I spent picking cotton", she recalled. Her mother's sister, Carolyn Russell,
50820-413: Was perhaps the only musician to have major success in both the country and folk revival genres throughout his career, later only a handful of artists like Burl Ives and Canadian musician Gordon Lightfoot successfully made the crossover to country after folk revival fell out of fashion. During the mid-1950s a new style of country music became popular, eventually to be referred to as rockabilly. In 1953,
51051-406: Was raised alongside Wynette and they developed a sister-like bond. She also learned to play the musical instruments that her father left behind. Wynette referred to her grandparents as "Mama" and "Daddy" while Mildred Russell was simply referred to as "Mother". Most people referred to young Virginia Pugh by her middle name, "Wynette". In 1946, Mildred Russell married Wynette's stepfather, Foy Lee. As
51282-583: Was ready to work with a new record producer. "She needed fresh blood, fresh ideas," Sherrill commented in 2010. The final Sherrill-produced album was 1980's Only Lonely Sometimes . Both singles from the LP (" He Was There (When I Needed You) " and " Starting Over ") reached number 17 on the Billboard country chart. Several years prior, Wynette married for the fifth (and final) time to George Richey . The pair previously wrote songs together, but after marrying, he became her full-time manager. Besides business affairs, he also produced several of her albums. Following
51513-421: Was released in 1966. In 1967, she had her first commercial success with the single " Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad ". In the late sixties, Wynette's career rose further with the number one Billboard country singles " I Don't Wanna Play House ", " D-I-V-O-R-C-E " and the self-penned " Stand by Your Man ". As her career entered the 1970s, Wynette was among country music's most popular artists and regularly topped
51744-410: Was the first to revert to country music with his 1967 album John Wesley Harding (and even more so with that album's follow-up, Nashville Skyline ), followed by Gene Clark , Clark's former band the Byrds (with Gram Parsons on Sweetheart of the Rodeo ) and its spin-off the Flying Burrito Brothers (also featuring Gram Parsons), guitarist Clarence White , Michael Nesmith ( the Monkees and
51975-462: Was the most-listened-to rush-hour radio genre during the evening commute, and second-most popular in the morning commute. The main components of the modern country music style date back to music traditions throughout the Southern United States and Southwestern United States , while its place in American popular music was established in the 1920s during the early days of music recording. According to country historian Bill C. Malone , country music
52206-452: Was the top-charting country artist of the 1950s, with 13 of his singles spending 113 weeks at number one. He charted 48 singles during the decade; 31 reached the top ten and 26 reached the top four. By the early 1950s, a blend of western swing, country boogie, and honky tonk was played by most country bands, a mixture which followed in the footsteps of Gene Autry , Lydia Mendoza , Roy Rogers , and Patsy Montana . Western music, influenced by
52437-455: Was titled Stand by Your Man: An Autobiography . Dew toured with Wynette in the 1970s and wrote down what Wynette told her verbatim. Wynette's career also took shape through film and television. In 1981, CBS aired a television film about her life, also called Stand by Your Man . Directed by Jerry Jameson , the film featured Annette O'Toole as Wynette while George Jones was portrayed by Tim McIntire . Both actors did their own singing for
52668-539: Was to feature a duet. Although she wanted to collaborate with Merle Haggard , she was instead paired with Mark Gray . Gray had left Exile before that band's shift from pop to country, and was beginning a solo country music career of his own at the time. Their result was a cover of the pop song " Sometimes When We Touch ". Wynette and Gray's rendition peaked at number six on the Billboard country chart in 1985. It became her first top ten recording in four years. The Buckingham collaboration resulted in Wynette's 1985 album of
52899-412: Was to separate the poor from the city and isolate them in refugee camps. The Howard Association, formed specifically for yellow fever epidemics in New Orleans and Memphis, organized nurses and doctors in Memphis and throughout the country. They stayed at the Peabody Hotel , the only hotel to keep its doors open during the epidemic. From there they were assigned to their respective districts. Physicians of
53130-411: Was visited by George Jones during her recovery, who encouraged her to record another album with him. The result was 1995's One . Released on MCA Records , the album reached number 12 on the Billboard country chart. It was followed by a high-profile duet tour featuring Jones and Wynette as headliners. In 1995, Wynette was dropped by her long-time label, Epic Records. Despite this, she continued to be
53361-611: Was voted "Miss Tremont High School" by her classmates. She smoked cigarettes and became fascinated with the opposite sex. "She was into datin' and boys long before we were", recalled friend Holly Ford. However, her mother Mildred disapproved of her daughter dating and the pair often argued about it during her teenage years. During this period, Wynette fell in love with Billy Cole, who attended the same church. She insisted on marrying Cole and attempted to keep it from her mother by mail-ordering eight dollar rings to her high school. However, Wynette's mother discovered her daughter's idea and stopped
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